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According to the specs, the Lumia 1020 should be able to auto-focus as close as 15cm. However, my phone consistently has trouble focusing that close. Typically, if the subject is between 15cm and 25cm away and I hold down the shutter half-way to focus, or touch the screen on a focus point, the focusing system temporarily focuses, but then immediately "pops back" out of focus.

SOMETIMES I can focus up to around 15cm, but it's not consistent and so I've been finding it difficult to get macro shots in general with the phone.

Has anybody else had this problem, or is possibly just an issue with my specific phone?

However, as you'd probably guess those two articles really don't specifically state that it's better to use manual focus when shooting macro shots with the 1020. It certainly does make sense that manual is useful for macro, but that's an answer to a slightly different problem.

Here's why I think it's a bigger problem than realized. If you use an app that requires you to be able to focus close, such as a QR or bar code reader, or an banking app that lets you take pictures of a check to deposit it, this problem can be extremely annoying. In some cases it may render the app useless. The trouble is that most (if not all) of those apps do not provide a way to manually focus. Instead, with the 1020 you have to move back. But if you move too far, the thing you're trying to get in focus may get too small.

I think this is actually a bug in the system assuming other people are running into it. If not, then my phone needs to be replaced.

Yes I ran into this same problem. I tried everything to get it to focus close up when in auto focus mode but to no avail. This is definitely a bug! I tried out another 1020 at a local AT&T store and it had the same problem. This is really annoying since this phone is specifically marketed as a "camera" phone?! This kind of problem shouldn't exist at all since my other phones such iPhone4 and HTC One X with measley 8mega pixels don't have this problem! Ridiculous! Why didn't the QA staff catch this bug before releasing it to the public? I have to return this phone after I give a NEGATIVE review on Amazon website! I am so dissappointed.

Same problem here. I know the camera CAN focus close, because it briefly does so when trying to autofocus, but then it pops back out of focus again. BIG problem for barcode scanning apps. I hope they have a firmware fix coming.

I've had the phone since the 17th Sept. and it's a great camera but I think it needs a different mindset, it's not as simple as just point and shoot. One thing that struck me on using it after an SLA is how wide angle the lens is, it's like shooting with a permanently attached wide angle lens, and I think this is the cause of the problem.

I think I need two extra elements to make it into an awesome macro machine.

1) something like this http://www.olloclip.com/ to refocus the lens onto a small area. (if you couple this with the 1020 camera, it would be amazing not far off a small microscope)

2) an app that will save your manual setting as a list of favorites so you don't have to constantly set them back up each time you turn the camera on.

I think others are missing the point that Greazer, DiGiD and others are making. It is this: the camera actually CAN focus when it is this close, you can actually see it doing so. BUT it does not hold it when the picture is finally taken. That is what is so frustrating. I would agree, this seems to be a software problem. I wish Nokia would recognize it.

I can only confirm what others have said. After my 920 was stolen last year I couldn't wait to get my hands on this one. I love the 1020 a lot and use the camera almost daily. I am not a professional photographer but the moment when I am trying to take a macro I can see the camera focused on the object for a second and then it looses it - that's very frustrating.

I CAN'T ZOOM IN TO TAKE A PICTURE OF RECEIPTS, ETC WITHIN 2 TO 3 INCHES OF THE OBJECT! IS THIS THE PROBLEM EVERYONE IS HAVING? HOLDING THE SHUTTER BUTTON 1/2 WAY WILL ZOOM BUT ONCE I CLICK THE SHUTTER ALL THE WAY, IT'S ALL BLURRY AND THE FLASH MAKES FOR A WHITE BLANK RECEIPT THAT I'M TRYING TO TAKE. Is everyone else having this problem? this is bs. I can use my galaxy note II to take these kinds of pics with no problem. Is this camera **bleep** or what? please explain it to me!!

I CAN'T ZOOM IN TO TAKE A PICTURE OF RECEIPTS, ETC WITHIN 2 TO 3 INCHES OF THE OBJECT! IS THIS THE PROBLEM EVERYONE IS HAVING? HOLDING THE SHUTTER BUTTON 1/2 WAY WILL ZOOM BUT ONCE I CLICK THE SHUTTER ALL THE WAY, IT'S ALL BLURRY AND THE FLASH MAKES FOR A WHITE BLANK RECEIPT THAT I'M TRYING TO TAKE. Is everyone else having this problem? this is bs. I can use my galaxy note II to take these kinds of pics with no problem. Is this camera **bleep** or what? please explain it to me!!

Have you tried to take a shot from whatever distance it will focus properly, i.e. 6 inches or so and then use the reframe option in Nokia camera. That works great for me.

I have the same problem too. I have to be nearly 60cm away before i get anything into focus. Nokia Refocus doesn't work either. I have reset the phone but no change, its very annoying as i bought the phone for the camera

I'm also having trouble, just as these others are writing. I could not take a photo of a photo (I know that's lame but I just wanted to quickly share a photo from an album with someone), no matter what distance I was shooting from. I got far away, close, manual focus---I tried everything I knew. Is it REALLY frustrating to see somehting in focus for that brief moment and know it won't take the photo in that way. Last summer I took beautiful close ups of garden bugs and flowers with my HTC One X, but I can't get this figured out. I also bought this phone because of the camera. But I WANT to love it! I can't believe how great my landscapes look, even zoomed in.

Too much from focus range finder causes this. I use ccam to read business cards all the timetry these. 1. Back away from Subject until focus is stable pressing shutter half way. Holding shutter at half way, move 1020 in to distance or until start to lose focus. 2. Fin point where focus is stable Take picture. Then zoom in on image. Use zoom app to take picture. Or 3. Go manual focus, moving slider as close as possible to auto, adjust camera - subject distance as desired but maintain focus 4. Use refocus app at desired distance .

What I don't like about wp8 is a keyboard without arrow keys to review and fix typos. I wanted to say, too much bounce from focus range finder. I can take very close pictures (2 - 3 inches 5-7 cm) using these methods.